Ron Loveless:
CLASS OF 1973
John Glenn High SchoolClass of 1973
Westland, MI
Wayne Memorial High SchoolClass of 1973
Wayne, MI
Ron's Story
Life
Living in Ann Arbor, not far from the UM Football stadium. I retired from the University of Michigan in 2018 after working there for 32 years as an IT Administrator. I have been married for 37 years to my wife Margaret Wagner Loveless of Ann Arbor. We raised 3 boys: Kirk (35), Chad (33), and Eric (27). Kirk and Chad live in Michigan, while Eric lives in Kansas City. They are all doing well. I could not be a prouder father of their achievements in life. My sons are college graduates with two of them having graduated from the University of Michigan.
In addition to my love of family as a father and grandfather, I try to keep in shape by playing golf, swimming, biking, and doing some weight training. I enjoy college football and Tiger baseball. The 1968 and 1984 Tigers, of course, are my best memories of the Tigers. The late Al Kaline was my childhood hero.
With the coronavirus pandemic descending on the world in early 2020, Margaret and I have been limited in our traveling. I filled in part of the time working as a Ranger at a golf course. But we are both looking forward to trips to Europe, Hawaii, and elsewhere once this settles down
School
High School was a mix of joy and sadness for me. If my parents did not go through their divorce, I would have attended all my high school years at John Glenn and graduated in 1973. Instead, I attended four High Schools. While attending John Marshall in the 9th grade, my parents ended their marriage. During their initial breakup, I ended up living with my grandmother in Redford for the start of high school. I started 10th grade at Redford High, and then switched to John Glenn for the latter part of 10th grade when I moved back with my mother. Mom ended up on welfare (ADC) and she had a new boyfriend. After completing 10th grade at John Glenn, Mom moved to shack town in Wayne. For the start of 11th grade I went to Wayne High. I started skipping school and doing stupid things. I finally quit high school during the 11th grade year which resulted in my placement into the Wayne Evening Youth Program (WEYP). WEYP was the night school program where the "bad kids" went--the druggies, the greasers, and those who skipped too much day school. During all this turmoil, my friend Doug Foster decided to join the Army. He asked me to go with him on the buddy plan. At first I declined, but after some additional personal problems at the home front, I decided to enlist with him.
Joining the Army was the most important decision I ever made. It was the game changer. Foster and I decided to change our lives and our futures my applying ourselves to education. We both finished High School in the Army with a GED and then started taking college classes at Chaminade College of Honolulu. We both got out of the Army in November 1976 with 1.5 years of college, and we were both accepted at the University of Michigan. Our grade points in high school were poor and not acceptable for college admission, but at Chaminade College we were both getting nearly all A's. We were competing against one another, and thus driving each other forward. Really cool life change!
Anyway back to John Glenn 10th grade. I started the year in good shape, but ended my 10th grade year by hanging out in the parking lot smoking Kools. I remember feeling guilty as Art Kile and Doug Somers coaxed me out of class in the early Spring to skip classes. As the weather got warm...Expand for more
er, I remember the many trips out to Silver Lake. Lots of fun.
Of course there were the hot babes at John Glenn. Names that come to mind are Bev McDermott, Lynn Lowry, Tina Wesley. Some of you remember them I am sure.
College
Since I screwed up in high school, I was determined to be successful in college. I was a very serious student. I hardly dated since this was a distraction from my studies. I graduated from the U of M in 1979 with a BA degree in Sociology. I then attended Eastern Mich for my MA degree also in Sociology. I wanted to be a professor at a four year college or community college. But with the political climate of the early 1980s and President Reagan, I was unable to find a full time teaching position.
You might ask why Sociology? I found the study of human social behavior fascinating. In particular, after reading some of the writings of Karl Marx and social class, I became convinced that I could do my small part by making other Blue Collar citizens aware of social class and how “class” was the real diversity issue in America, not gender and race. I came from a blue collar family and even a welfare family. Fortunately the GI bill helped me to go to college, and to educate myself about the many social issues facing America. I believe all Americans should have the option to attend college if desired. It should not be a choice for only America's wealthy. Unfortunately for many working class blue collar Americans, the choice of attending college is grim due to exorbitant costs, particularly for attendance at a school like the University of Michigan where tuition and expenses can be as much as $25K a year.
Having a college degree from Michigan did help me in finding professional work. I ended up working in Information Technology—a much different profession from what many of my friends in Westland ended up doing like working in a factory at Ford or GM, working as an auto mechanic.
Workplace
Retired now, but I did work at the University of Michigan for 32 years before retiring in 2019. In my job, I managed IT operations at the department, college, and enterprise levels. I was proud to be part of the University’s transition to the age of computing and electronics. Very gratifying work for the most part.
Military
Joined the Army in November 1973. Enlisted as Vietnam was cooling off. The country at the time was trying to get out of the war. I gambled thinking that I could reap the GI Bill benefits without risking my life in combat. The gamble paid off in my favor. After Basic Training at Fort Knox Kentucky, I spent some time at Fort Gordon, Georgia for AIT training in Radio Teletype Communications. In short, I was trained in Radioteletype, Morse Code, and Voice Radio communications. Once AIT was done, I was assigned to the 25th infantry division at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. I spent 2.5 years there. The only combat scare was in 1975 when Saigon was being evacuated. The North Vietnamese were moving too quickly into Saigon. As a result, President Ford at the time put my Division on alert. For three days, we were under lock down, and we had to be ready to move to Vietnam on a moment's notice. Fortunately, this tactic caused the North Vietnamese to slow down fearing an increase in American troop strength during the evacuation.
I had a lot of fun in Hawaii. I served duty with Doug Foster and Greg Sitarski--guys I stay in touch with to this day.
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